Venus beware! Your bogeywoman Pironkova is back and wants to repeat shock

She was the unknown Bulgarian who stunned Venus Williams at Wimbledon last year.

Tsvetana Pironkova now has the chance to do it all over again in one of the most fascinating match-ups. Pironkova has won just a handful of matches since reaching the semi-finals here in 2010.

But she loves the grass and, having taken a set off Serena Williams at Eastbourne and dumping last year's Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva out emphatically on Friday, the 23-year-old is ready to cause another upset.

Repeat performance: Pironkova is hoping she can repeat the heroics of last year's Championships

'Last year was extremely exciting for me,' said Pironkova. 'I'd only dreamt of a moment like that before. It was an amazing experience.

'I remember feeling very calm and feeling no pressure. The crowd were behind me. It's amazing to have the support of them on a court - it gave me more strength, more power. It would be great to have the British crowd behind me again.'

Last year's surprisingly easy straight-sets win over Williams in the quarter-finals changed life for Pironkova. She is an A-lister now in Bulgaria and ranked 50 places higher - at No 33 - than she was last year.

'My life has changed since I beat Venus,' she added. 'It was a big win for me but also for Bulgaria because I was the first woman from my country to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

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'So many people came to meet me at the airport when I got back and every newspaper, magazine and TV show wanted to talk to me. It was hard to focus on just playing tennis.'

A repeat performance will have her on the front of more publications - not just back home - and if she can do it anywhere, it is on grass.

'I feel really good on grass,' she said. 'I've had a difficult year and not many results, but I've actually improved my game. I've been playing the best players in the world - if you look at who I have lost to - so it's difficult but I'm happy.'